America's light on the hill is going out; China in prophecy - part 2

Earlier today I wrote part one of the decline of America's hegemony, and noted potential impacts from this decline in influence in all areas; diplomatic, cultural, economic, etc. It was a prescient piece. Today we read in the Financial Times of London,

"The global order fractures as American power declines" and it is the first time a Main Stream Media outlet has likened the US definitively to ancient Rome.

"Harold Macmillan, the prime minister who watched US power rise as the British empire crumbled, used to say that Britain would play ancient Greece to America’s Rome. These days it looks as if Rome is declining too. The US finds it increasingly hard to drive forward its vision of international trade and economics over the objections of big emerging-market countries. The Visigoths and the Vandals who sacked Rome and undermined its empire, though far more cultured and sophisticated than their popular reputation, were unable to replicate the Pax Romana order it had established. European territories previously under Roman rule fractured into an unstable array of weak kingdoms and embattled city-states. Similarly, the vacuum created today by the erosion of US hegemony and the turmoil in the eurozone is resulting in stasis rather than a new direction." ...

"Emerging markets talk in general terms of increasing their power in the [international monetary] fund. Yet votes and executive board seats are already being shifted – admittedly painfully slowly – away from Europe towards middle-income countries. Many emerging markets would prefer to remove the US’s veto power over important decisions by cutting its share of the vote to below 15 per cent but no credible voting formula has been or will be devised to achieve that. China’s diplomatic efforts within the IMF in recent years have largely been negative, trying to get it to pipe down about the renminbi. Doha is dying but the emerging markets at the centre of the talks – India, China and Brazil – have not sketched a replacement."

Remember, nature abhors a vacuum. Soon there will be a replacement. It looks to me that China would be that replacement, given the influence that the Asian nations will have in the prophetic: In other words, the barbarians are at the gate and we are now the huddles masses cowering behind fortresses which are crumbling.


Here is a short study on China (Asian/Oriental nations) in prophecy. There is more to show you about China in current news, which I do in the final part of the series. Let's get a background in events of the Orient in the biblical past and the prophetic future. From bible.org:

China in Prophecy

"Scriptures rarely go outside the confines of the ancient Roman Empire in predicting future events. An exception to this is the statement found in Isaiah 49:12 relating to the ultimate regathering of the nation Israel, “Behold, these shall come from far: and, lo, these from the north and from the west; and these from the land of Sinim.” Although it is not possible to be dogmatic as to the precise reference of “the land of Sinim,” conservative scholarship has generally agreed that the most probable explanation is that this refers to the ancient land of China."

The Magi From The East

"One of the most familiar Biblical references to the Far East is related to the visit of the Magi as they brought gifts to the Christ child. According to Matthew 2:1, 2, “Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.”

"It has been commonly held from the times of the early church fathers that these strange visitors came from the area east of the Euphrates and probably from ancient Persia. The Persian origin of the Magi was suggested by such men as Clement of Alexandria, Diodorus of Tarsus, Chrysostom, and Cyril of Alexandria. Somehow the Messianic hope had been transmitted in some form even to this distant land. The star appearing over Bethlehem prompted their journey and inquiry concerning the birth of the King of the Jews. The fact that they wanted to worship Him and recognized Him as the King of the Jews reveals that the basic facts concerning the Old Testament were more widely known than is commonly realized. As in the case of the reference to the land of Sinim, the story in the New Testament gives added support to the conclusion that the Bible includes the Orient in its world-wide view."

Daniel’s Prophecy Of A Military Invasion From The Far East

"In Daniel’s prophecy of “the time of the end” beginning in Daniel 11:35, a king is pictured in the Mediterranean area who engages in a military conflict with the king of the south, the king of the north, and a military force from the east. ... In the prophecy it is stated in Daniel 11:44, “But tidings out of the east and out of the north shall trouble him: therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many.” Although the information given is meager, in the light of the context it appears that these tidings concern a military invasion from the Orient."

The Great Army From The Orient

Two important passages in Revelation, namely, 9:13-21 and 16:12-16 contribute to the conclusion that one of the large armies employed in the final world conflict will be a military force of great power which comes from the Orient.

The Euphrates River

"Then the sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates and dried up its water to prepare the way for the kings from the east." (Rev 16:12) "The fact that the rise of Asia has occurred in our twentieth century with so many rapid and unexpected developments is another evidence that the world is moving toward its final climax and the end of the times of the Gentiles. In Asia, as in other parts of the world, the stage is being set for the final drama in which the kings of the east will have their important part."

I've given only excerpts here. The Bible.org study of the nations of the Orient in prophecy is much richer, if you go to Bible.org and read the study there you'll get the full flavor. In the next part of my series, we will look at today's news which supports the notion that America, the world's only superpower for decades, is in decline as the prophetic nations of the Orient are rising up.

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